Best Litecoin Wallet | Litecoin Wallets That Are Safe To Use

Litecoin has seen a meteoric increase in market value in the year 2017. From a value of $4.40 at the beginning of the year, it reached an all-time high of $360.93 in December 2017. That is equal to an 8200% increase.

This gives you all enough reason to start investing in Litecoin. One of the prerequisites to buy Litecoin is to be in possession of the best Litecoin wallet to carry out Litecoin transactions.

Litecoin, being a cheaper version of Bitcoin, is used for everyday transactions. Not each and every Litecoin wallet in India will have the same features and capabilities.

You must choose one that can work on a platform you are comfortable with and has sophisticated security features.

This article will help you pick out the best Litecoin wallet by comparing eight of the best Litecoin wallets available. All these wallets are accessible for anyone looking for Litecoin wallets in India.

Read on to know more about the following:

What is Litecoin?

How does a Litecoin wallet work?

Best Litecoin Wallets

Hardware Wallets

Desktop Wallets

Mobile Wallets

Paper Wallets

WHAT IS LITECOIN?

In simple terms, Litecoin is the silver to Bitcoin’s gold. Litecoin was created as a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency that was released as an open-source client on Github in 2011.

It is a fork of the Bitcore client; that is meant for cheaper, everyday transactions. It is a lighter version of Bitcoin that is faster and cheaper.

With a current market cap of $3.5 billion, it is in the 7th position among all other cryptocurrencies in the world, at the time of writing this article.

The boom in its market value, as well as the soaring prices of Bitcoin, has caused led to many investors looking to purchase Litecoin.

LITECOIN WALLET

A cryptocurrency wallet is a software program that is used to store a user’s public and private keys as well as carry out and keep track of all transactions.

A Litecoin wallet can be one dedicated to only Litecoin or a multicurrency wallet that can work with other cryptocurrency wallets as well.

HOW DOES A LITECOIN WALLET WORK?

A cryptocurrency wallet, unlike a traditional wallet, does not store any currency.

Instead, they are software programs that they store your private keys (secure digital code only known to you and the wallet) and are meant to execute crypto transactions and monitor them as well.

Your wallet will also have a wallet address which is a string of letters and numbers where anyone can send Litecoin to you.

Your public key is also associated with the wallet which is essentially a hashed version of your wallet’s address.

When someone sends you a certain amount of Litecoin, they use your private keys to sign the ownership of the coin to you. To unlock the coin, the stored private keys and the public address that the coin was assigned to, must match. This will increase your Litecoin balance and decrease the sender’s balance.

To send money from your wallet, the transaction needs to be authorized by using your private keys. You need to enter the recipient’s wallet address for funds to be transferred to their account.

This means that there is no physical transfer of coins. Instead, a record of the transaction is made on the blockchain.

It is a common mistake to store your Litecoin on online exchanges which makes them vulnerable to attack. The most prudent thing to do is to transfer your Litecoin to a secure Litecoin wallet.

BEST LITECOIN WALLETS

Here are the top recommendations for wallets that can be used to store Litecoin:

Hardware Wallets

Hardware wallets are devices that can connect to a computer via the USB port. These are the safest wallets since they are offline and hence there is minimal chance of your data being stolen. They are cold storage devices.

Ledger Nano S

Ledger Nano S has been topping the list of best crypto wallets and is our top recommendation for a Litecoin wallet.

Being a hardware wallet, it works offline which means that your private keys and transaction records are safe from being hacked and misused.

It is a multicurrency wallet that offers support for 23 cryptocurrencies as of 2018.

Cons

Trezor

Trezor is another hardware wallet which was incidentally, the first ever hardware wallet to come into existence.

Like the Ledger Nano S, the Trezor wallet can also store multiple currencies include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dashcoin, Litecoin, Zcash, etc.

Features

Small in size with OLED display

24-word seed key for recovery purpose

Protected by a 9 digit PIN (everytime a wrong PIN is entered, the wait time for the subsequent attempt increased by a power of 2 and is irreversible)

No apps or downloads to compromise security

Pros

First hardware wallet ever backed by a strong reputation

Advanced protection from hacking since it does not access any external network

Multiple currency support and conversion from and to fiat currencies

Easy-to-use interface

Cons

Higher costs

Can only be used while plugged in

The Trezor wallet can be purchased in various models on the Trezor website. The prices vary from model to model starting at around $120.

Desktop Wallets

Desktop wallets are applications that store your private keys and carry out transactions on a desktop. Compared to hardware wallets, they are not as secure since they are not offline. This makes them susceptible to attack from hackers.

Cons

Mobile Wallets

Mobile wallets are mobile applications that can be used to carry out crypto transactions. They are much smaller in size and have limited functionality because of the storage restrictions on phones. The advantage of using mobile wallets is that they are portable and can be used anywhere on the go.

Cons

Paper Wallets

A paper wallet can be used to refer to a piece of paper on which you store your private keys, or in this case, a software that can generate your private keys and then print them out. To transfer funds, you have to use this paper wallet’s address either by entering it manually or by scanning the printed QR code.

A paper wallet is the cheapest and safest way to store your private keys.

Cons

CONCLUSION

Looking at Bitcoin’s ever increasing prices, Litecoin offers the best alternative option for investing in crypto. It also has a wide variety of wallets that can be used to carry out Litecoin transactions depending on your purpose.

For a beginner, a great Litecoin wallet recommendation would be the Exodus wallet with its easy to use interface. If you are a hardcore crypto enthusiast, then there is no better wallet than the Ledger Nano S because of its advanced security features.

Whichever wallet you use, always be careful about hacking threats. Using multiple wallets is also a good idea since not all of your currency will be lost should you get hacked.

Most importantly, never leave your currency in an online exchange since this is a sure shot way for you to lose it.